What Once Was Lost
by OrcaPotter
Summary: Harry returns to Godric's Hollow as an adult to realize something that he'd never given thought to before. Please r/r!


A/N: Just a short little something. Something different. Please be sure and leave a constructive review, feedback is greatly appreciated!  
DISCLAIMER: J.K. Rowling owns the genius that is Harry Potter.  
  
  
  
What Once Was Lost  
  
He stepped through the newly fallen snow slowly. The bitterly cold air whipped at his hair as he pulled the collar of his overcoat closer to his body. Each crunching sound of his boots on the snow echoed across the large open field surrounded by barren trees. The sun was only just starting to spread its warm glow over the horizon, just visible through the wintered forest. Light sparkled off the wet snow and reflected off his round, fine rimmed black glasses. There wasn't any sign of life, except the misted breathing of his own. All was still and silent as he finally stopped.  
  
It was a place that existed his entire life under his consciousness. A place that he knew he was supposed to remember, but didn't. From what has been told to him, it was a place that brought joy to the heart and soul. Secluded and secret, there was no other place on Earth that was safer from the harsh world.  
  
But no place is sacred.  
  
Twenty years ago, this haven of peace and safety was betrayed. Betrayed by one that was entrusted to keep it secret. Through that betrayal, everything that this place once represented was destroyed, along with the life within.  
  
Yet he survived.  
  
He knelt on the snow, brushing away the ice with his gloved hand to reveal a large plaque. To finally see it with his own eyes made his throat constrict with unshed emotion. For he, the lone survivor of the tragedy that had befallen this place, had never returned until now. The names of which he read belonged to two people he did not remember. Their voices in his mind were that of pain or sorrow. The images were silent and hollow. He could only feel their sacrifice by the blood that traveled within him, made stronger by their loss.  
  
For if it wasn't for them, he wouldn't be back at that spot.  
  
"Why? Why did you have to leave me in this world?"  
  
He knew it was a stupid question, he already knew the answer. It was an ungrateful one too, and he flushed in slight shame.  
  
"I'm sorry," he whispered to the cold air. "I just wish I knew you. Then this emptiness I feel would not ache for two people I never knew."  
  
The sun finally rose high enough to shine it's light across the moistened plaque, and it caught his eye with a newfound intensity. The names seemed to glow on their own. He traced the engraved letters with his finger slowly, breathing deeply.  
  
"Before I discovered who I really am… who you were, my life was a hollow, meaningless shell. But now I know why I'm here and what you did for me, and every day since I've known I have tried to live up to what you would want me to be. It's hard, though. Hard in the fact that while you may know me, I never knew you. Never knew you more than instinct as a baby, drawn to his parents for protection and care. And love. Love is something precious that I never had as a child. Then I found friends and found love through friendship. I found my godfather, and found the love that for so long had been missing. But, I see my friends and their parents, and the love I have, while still love in itself, is different from what they share. I'll never truly feel love like that, perhaps not until I have a child of my own. But still, it's different. Something that I wish I had. So, while I know you left me behind in this world to keep me safe, I ask you… why did it have to be this way?"  
  
Despite the cold of the snow and the wind, the warmth from the sun made him open his coat. However, after a moment, he began to realize that it wasn't the sun that was warming him… it was something else. It began to comfort him and the feeling stayed with him as he stood up straight in the snow. The emptiness inside seemed to fill with an emotion he never felt before, something he could not identify. But there was no reason to.  
  
"Coming, Harry?"  
  
He didn't turn, but still looked down at the plaque which was all that identified the clearing as Godric's Hollow. It dawned on him, as the sun continued to beam down it's light, that the names engraved on the plaque were just that- names. The people they belonged to are no longer there… but everywhere. He realized that he was never truly alone… nor would he ever be. For his parents are with him.  
  
"What once was lost," he whispered, bending back down to place two freshly cut roses across the plaque. "Now is found."  
  
"Harry?"  
  
"Coming, Sirius."  
  
He retraced his steps through the snow, and slowly walked away. His godfather waited for him at the forest's edge, wearing a sad smile.  
  
"How do you feel?" he asked quietly.  
  
Harry considered a moment, glancing back at the clearing that he had been in… that had once been his home.  
  
"Now," he gave Sirius a small grin. "Now, I feel complete."   
  
  
A/N: Told you it was short. Please, leave a review! I'm still working on chapter 8 of Shadows of Yesterday.  
  
http://www.theworldofreneepotter.disneyfansites.com  
  
Review? Thanks!  
~OrcaPotter 


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